Weis' candor creates media day buzz

Monday

Jul 22, 2013 at 4:54 PM

Austin Meek

DALLAS — People are talking about Kansas football in July, so in that sense, Charlie Weis may already have won.

A room full of under-caffeinated media members, some of whom might have been asleep, perked up considerably when Weis stepped to the microphone Monday at the Omni Dallas Hotel and described his pitch to potential recruits.

"I said, ‘Have you looked at that pile of crap out there?’ " Weis said. " ‘Have you taken a look at that? So if you don’t think you can play here, where do you think you can play?’ "

That’s the kind of thing Weis will say roughly once a week when he’s in his natural habitat at KU, but it had some extra reach when broadcast from the podium at Big 12 media days. It reverberated on the Internet and got the media contingent talking, some wondering about the message Weis was sending to the players on his team.

This is the side of Weis that keeps KU’s public relations department on its toes. Within an hour of his podium session, Weis was eating lunch with his sports information staff and watching fallout unfold in real time.

"Somebody has already written out there that I’ve given up on my team for this year," Weis said. "They’ve already put that out there. I mean, were you paying attention to a word I said? If you were paying attention at all, you knew that wasn’t what I was saying."

Brutal honesty isn’t always popular, as Weis can attest. There have been times, he admits, when he could have saved himself some grief by sticking to the coachspeak that fills transcripts at conference media days. At some point, though, he decided it was best to speak his mind and live with the consequences.

"It doesn’t always help you, but I’d rather do it that way," Weis said. "At least at the end of the day you have your head held high. I really can’t speak for how other people do it. I just believe that’s who I am."

So for those who came to Big 12 media days seeking a blunt assessment of KU football, Weis was happy to comply. Coming off a 1-11 season, the Jayhawks were picked 10th in the preseason poll, which sounded about right to their coach.

"If I were you, I’d pick us in the same spot," Weis said. "We’ve given you no evidence or no reason to be picked anywhere other than that."

That candid critique extended to KU’s offense ("We couldn’t pass the ball, and we couldn’t score points") and its kicking game, which one reporter described as "nothing short of atrocious" while phrasing a question.

If those statements sound harsh to the media day crowd, they’re nothing KU’s players haven’t heard before. The language is even stronger behind closed doors, Weis said, which only works when the team understands who bears ultimate responsibility.

"When I talk about my team, I start with me, just so you understand," Weis said. "When people hear me say my team is a pile of crap, I’m the leader of that.

"When the players know that you’re holding yourself accountable first long before you get to them, they don’t have a problem with that."

That’s true of linebacker Ben Heeney, who said he prefers a pointed critique to an empty compliment.

"I like playing for guys who yell at you, who scream at you, who get on you as opposed to guys who just pat you on the back and tell you it’s OK," he said.

And, for the record, Heeney said he wasn’t offended by Weis’ comments.

"I know where he’s coming from," Heeney said. "He wants to get us the best players he can, and that’s a tactic of getting players."

If the tactic works, KU’s talent should be improved in 2013, possibly enough to snap a 21-game losing streak against conference opponents. Weis might even need to find a new recruiting pitch, which would be fine with him.

"We have 12 games at least for them to change that impression for the next set of recruits that’s coming to watch games," he said. "Hopefully I can’t use that this year. Hopefully when a guy comes in this year, I can’t sit there and say the same thing."

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